Training her gift and trying to figure out what her limits were was a prospect that excited Cecilia before it actually started. Now, almost a week later, her opinion on the matter had changed completely. Not only was Aro relentless, something she had expected, he barely let her spend time outside of the training room. She had probably seen Demetri for a grande total of ten hours the last week.
But, she had to admit that Aro's training was effective. His mind worked in ways Cecilia would never begin to understand and it offered interesting perspectives on her new gift. Not only had he made her take several memories, he had also been working on the exact opposite of it, planting memories. Especially that last part was tricky, and it reminded her a lot of a movie she had watched with Edward and Emmett one time. Inception it was called, if she remembered correctly.
"Eleazar could tell us the exact mechanisms and limits to my gift," Cecilia huffed out. For the past six hours, she'd been trying to plant the idea that the sky was purple in the head of some lower-tier guard member. She didn't even know her name, but the dark-haired woman looked just as unpleased to be there as she did. "Maybe I can't do this."
"Nonsense, it's the two sides of the same coin," Aro said, chuckling like a happy child. His milky eyes shifted from the guard to Cecilia, clapping his hands together. "Besides, I want to keep you a secret from the rest of the world. Did you tell your family about it?"
Now that she didn't have a beating heart, it was a lot easier to lie. "No, I haven't had the time," she said. "Alice might have seen in one of her visions, though."
"The visions, yes, of course," Aro said, as if he was only just remembering them. With his hand, he waved in the direction of the guard. "Try again, my beloved Cecilia, try to envision it."
Resisting the urge to grumble, Cecilia put her mind to the task. She really wanted to spend some time with her soulmate, but even if Aro decided to give her some time off, it wouldn't matter. He had sent Demetri on a mission with Felix, Jane and Alec to Albania, hundreds of miles away from her. While he was off killing some conspicuous coven, she was trying to make someone believe the sky was purple. It felt ridiculous.
"I can't," she muttered, taking a step back. The whole thing gave her a headache.
"Alright, don't worry about it, my dear," Aro said, but she could see the disappointment on his face. "Let's try something different. Make Vanessa forget she's in Volterra."
That was a task she now managed to complete within mere seconds. Vanessa looked around her with a confused expression on her face, a sign that Cecilia had succeeded.
"Now make her forget she's a member of the Volturi."
Vanessa was not only a lower-tier guard, but she hadn't been turned for a very long time either. It made her an easy person to manipulate, because the ties between her and the memories Cecilia was trying to take weren't as strong. A couple of seconds passed and the look of bewilderment on the other's vampire face increased.
"Make her forget she's one of us."
Cecilia had no idea what Aro's plan was, but she followed his orders nevertheless. It hadn't taken them long to figure out that it was easier for her to make her victim forget things she'd been a part of or could imagine. All she had to do now, was focus on Vanessa's appearance and the things that made her the supernatural creature she was, before storing it somewhere deep in her mind.
"What's happening?" Vanessa asked, looking at her reflecting skin with a look of horror. As if she'd really been transformed back, she started breathing and slumped her shoulders. Cecilia felt bad not only for the girl, but also for the fact that she was fascinated with the power of her own gift.
"Vanessa had an alcoholic father and a junkie for a mother. Make her forget both of them."
Cecilia hesitated for a moment, but one sharp look from Aro made all of that doubt go away. She had a feeling about what he wanted to achieve, but she had no idea if it was even possible and whether she was up for the task. It was getting more difficult already, considering Cecilia had no idea who Vanessa's parents were, how they looked or what kind of relationship she had with the both of them. She tried to focus on a loving relationship first, but when nothing happened, she created an image of the opposite and focused on it with all of her might. Once she actually got the memory, she would see it flash in front of her with all of the details, if only briefly.
Vanessa started sobbing, though she had no tears left to cry, the glint of paranoia in her eyes growing with each and passing second. Cecilia let out a grunt, feeling a dull pain in her left temple.
"Make her forget that she grew up in the poorer parts of the city."
It was another thing Cecilia had no experience with and took a lot of creativity to imagine, before she was able to take it away too. Aro wanted to strip the girl of all her memories and she was actually doing it. She was meddling with someone's mind even though she had no idea how it would affect the other person. The worst thing was that that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was that she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to do it, that she was too weak.
Slowly but surely, the dull ache in her left temple turned into a sharper one, like a stick pressing against the side of her head. She was able to do it, though, and it didn't take long before Vanessa started to run to the door of the room. It was one of the heavier doors, only to be opened with the strength a vampire possessed. Cecilia watched the girl pull and pull, and though she was technically still a vampire, the door didn't shift a single inch.
"Interesting," Aro said, sounding thrilled. "Now make her forget she can walk at all, I'm getting tired of her pacing."
Though this wasn't a thing hard to imagine, it was hard to take away. Cecilia frowned, grunting with effort as she took that memory as well. It took her a couple of minutes, but in the end, Vanessa fell down, her legs limp. Her left temple felt like a sharp knife was cutting through the skin, but she didn't want to stop, not yet.
"Make her forget her name."
Cecilia guessed that was the most difficult thing to do. Behind a name was someone's entire personality, all of their family history, habits, friends, the things she liked and the things she hated. It was the sum of everything. For Vanessa, who had been stripped of certain memories already, it was the sum of everything minus a lot of things. It made the task only a little easier.
She planted her feet firmly on the ground, focussing all of her attention and more on the task at hand. The knife was cutting through the left side of her skull now, splitting it wide open. Another knife was already pressed at the other temple, only just breaking the skin. Vanessa's expression of paranoia increased, before suddenly disappearing altogether. She lied on the ground quietly, her eyes directed at the ceiling but not really looking, her mouth slightly agape.
Aro started clapping slowly, the sound echoing through the empty room and engraving itself deep in Cecilia's mind. It was a sound that was going to haunt her till the end of days. "You're miraculous, Cecilia, you truly are." Aro walked towards Vanessa, bending over the girl and snapping his fingers in front of her eyes. The girl didn't even blink. In fact, she didn't do anything. Aro looked up, a delighted smile on his face. "You created a canvas, my dear, a blank page to be filled. Give her back her memories, give them a twist."
"Alright," Cecilia said, unsure of herself. She gave the girl her basic abilities back at first, so that she at least looked a little more lively, before working on twisting everything. She started on the name, changing it from Vanessa to Melissa. Her eyes shifted from Vanessa to Aro, giving him an uncertain nod. "Ask her her name."
"My dear," Aro said, bending over her with a feigned worried expression plastered on his face. "What's your name."
"It's uh..." She seemed to have some difficulty with remembering, looking from Aro to her folded hands with her eyebrows scrunched together and a look of confusion in her eyes. "It's Melissa, I think. No, it's Vanessa... No, I'm being ridiculous. It's Melissa. My name is Melissa."
The two knives met at the centre of her brain and Cecilia felt like the wind was knocked from her. She lost her balance, but before she could fall, Aro had caught her, lowering her to the ground before moving away. She could feel the tension in her brain building and she let out a loud groan, tugging on her hair with her hands. It felt like her head was going to explain any minute now, and she did the only thing she could come up with. She let go. She let go of all the memories of Vanessa, willing them to go away. There was not enough space in her mind for the memories of two people, not if she wanted to stay sane.
"Cecilia, beloved, what is it?" Aro asked, sounding sincerely worried.
She let out a sigh of relief as most of the pain disappeared, fixating her eyes on Vanessa. The girl was standing up straight again, her chest not moving and all signs of her earlier confusion gone. Cecilia had given her back her memories. "It was too much," she said. "It felt like my brain was going to explode."
"You may go, Vanessa," Aro said. The girl did so obediently, probably glad to be gone. Aro knelt in front of Cecilia, folding his hands together with a menacing smile on his face. "We are going to conquer the world, Cecilia, with you by my side there are no limits to what we can achieve."